Morpheus Coaching

In this part of the mini-series on managing your time I have put together 10 things you can do to help you manage your time more effectively. I have assimilated these over the past 20 years and some if not all may be familiar to you. It’s not knowing about them that makes the difference remember, it is putting them into action.

1. What you can get done in your life depends on how you manage your time – choices, choices, choices. Life is full of opportunity and choice. In order to accomplish things that are important to you, you may need to manage your time with a similar level of importance. Read David Allen’s excellent book “Getting things done”  and catch him on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSzAz_ZQIA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7vUdKTlhk. Here’s a link to his website too http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php
2. Recognise that managing your time poorly is only a habit – and like all habits they can be difficult to change but can be changed nonetheless. Habitual behaviour is about making the same type of decision time after time – doing what you always do gets you exactly that – what you have always got. Habits form over time and therefore can take time to change. Be prepared for you to persevere for a significant period of time before the new, more appropriate behaviours become a more effective habit.
3. Time can be viewed in a number of ways – and often so-called time management remedies relate solely to one way of thinking and working and that is the reason many fail to work. Find and keep the things that work for you. If it doesn’t work try something else. Examples of different views of time include “time is short, use it well”, “time is plentiful if you know how to live it”.  “Time waits for no man” “A stitch in time saves nine”.
4. Access ‘In-time’ moments – In-time moments are the ones where you associate into the experience; they allow you to savour the experience. Immerse yourself in activities to get the best experience. Spend time absorbed in the moment – but have in place mechanisms (alarms etc) to ‘pull you out when necessary. Without in-time moments creativity and innovation would be limited.
5. Access ‘through-time’ moments – Know when to disassociate from an experience – stepping back and viewing your ‘timeline’ out in front of you like a map will help you to see where you need to go and what progress you are making. It is the habit that poor time managers need the most. List-making is one thing, list using however is another – through time means effectively using the lists you make and making the lists you need to use.
6. Take time to re-evaluate your life - every now and again revisit what it is you want out of each aspect of your life (work, family, friendships, finance, health, interests and experiences etc). What has changed? What do you ACTUALLY have to do as the next step for you to move towards each one?
7. Recognise that beliefs and values affect the way you use your time – recognise the limiting beliefs that help you fritter away valuable time – by believing in different things or about things differently you can change your behaviours.
8. The environment you are in can make a difference to the way you react to time – open plan offices might make concentrating more difficult for instance. Working from home for some is liberating, for others distracting. Getting some fresh air each day may be just the adjustment in your environment needed to change your resourcefulness – and therefore your effectiveness using time.
9. The behaviours you adopt are within YOUR control – do you have the capability to assert yourself to protect your time and your priorities? If not this is an excellent place to start – coaching can really help here.
10. Give yourself affirmations every day – you may have a long way to go in order to manage your time effectively. An affirmation is something that helps you to recognise and celebrate a success, whilst also recognising there is still a way to go. This is another useful five-a-day activity.